SAN DIEGO, Calif. - BioAtla, a global biotechnology company focused on the development of Conditionally Active Biologics (CABs), announced in a press release that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued to BioAtla US Patent No. 8,859,467, for its proprietary Comprehensive Integrated Antibody Optimization™ (CIAO!™) technology platform. The BioAtla CIAO patent broadly covers methods of evolving and screening for antibodies in manufacturing host cells during the discovery stages of drug development. The CIAO technology platform allows for antibody candidate development in a native cellular environment that generates the best collection of lead candidates that optimize downstream expression yields and in vivo translation of function, thereby increasing the likelihood of preserving selected therapeutic activities in the final drug.
“CIAO and our related proprietary evolution and selection technologies are beneficial, and often critical, in the development of antibodies and other proteins that maximize selectivity, such as those developed from our patented CAB technology,” said Jay M. Short, Ph.D., president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of BioAtla. “CABs can be designed as monoclonal antibodies, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), CAR-T cells or other therapeutics to target specific tissues in cancerous or distressed conditions associated with unique microenvironments in the body. CAB antibodies are a disruptive technology for the development of a powerful new class of immunotherapeutics and are prime examples of novel potential product opportunities that benefit from the use of CIAO-based processes.”
BioAtla employs CIAO technology in all of its internal development programs for its growing list of pipeline antibody candidates. The high fidelity of the CIAO platform when combined with BioAtla’s evolution technologies allows selection of therapeutic candidates with unique functional characteristics, natural protein folding and glycosylation, high protein expression and faster downstream process development characteristics, all of which enable cost and time efficiencies, as well as maximizing and preserving functionality. This homogenous process of evolution through manufacturing leads to greater predictability and likelihood of therapeutic success. BioAtla has successfully utilized CIAO in dozens of antibody programs it has conducted for biotechnology companies and research institutions over the past several years including the licensing in early 2014 of an antibody directed at a novel validated target for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer.